The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its search for six people aboard a Canadian-registered air ambulance that disappeared off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, during a flight from Bermuda to Boston.

The Hamilton-based Latitude Air Ambulance aircraft was carrying four Canadian crew members and two Bermudian passengers when authorities lost contact with the Gulfstream G100 early Saturday.

Search crews later located a debris field about 32 kilometres off Nantucket. The Coast Guard and partner agencies searched more than 7,000 kilometres before suspending the operation.

The four Canadians were crew members, while the other two people aboard were a patient and a family member being transported from Bermuda to Boston.

Latitude Air Ambulance said it is mourning the loss of its four team members and the two passengers aboard the flight. The company is cooperating with Canadian and U.S. authorities as recovery and investigation efforts continue.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada and U.S. National Transportation Safety Board are among the authorities involved in the wider investigation into the incident.

The Coast Guard said suspending the search was a difficult decision and expressed condolences to the families and loved ones affected.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.